On Pacing

On Pacing

long distances there is a sense of panic and urgency that can sneak up at unexpected times. It is an insidious breathlessness that creeps up when you are not paying attention. Beginning with a slight feeling of discomfort and a desire to get to the finish line faster your pace picks up a small amount. You extend yourself just a little bit too far with each stride. This discomfort increases the desire for the end and the pace picks up a little bit faster and the strides become just a little bit longer. Twenty minutes of this slow acceleration with deteriorating form leads to a feeling of frantic breathlessness accompanied by a confusion as to how things went downhill so fast. The key at this point is to drop the pace, to focus on your breathing, even to walk at an aid station if needed. To recenter, recalibrate, refocus. Resetting the stride at this point, reaching a rhythm in your breathing, and recognizing how much farther you still have to go is essential to finishing, and finishing well.

The same can be said of many other aspects of life. Slow increases in stress or hours at work push us at a pace that we cannot maintain. We begin to lose the enthusiasm, the why, that is crucial. Weeks to months down the road, we end up burned out, gasping for breath, unsure if we want to continue or even if we can. The journey is no longer fun, and our pace keeps increasing at a frantic rate to try to get somewhere, anywhere a little bit faster so maybe all of this can stop.

In running you can use technology and intentional self-awareness to avoid the breathless panic. Watching for spikes in heart rate and paying attention to the rhythm of your breathing are essential. But it is not enough just to pay attention, you must also adjust. Slow your pace, enjoy the view, take in some fluids and nutrition. The same is true in life. You can track markers like work hours and do gut checks from time to time, but you also must be willing to change. To leave early and take a weekend off. To drop everything for a day or two. To take advantage of the slow times to regain your breath. To settle in for the long haul and make accommodations so that the long haul becomes a journey of joy instead of a painful slog.

After all the tortoise versus the hare is best understood not as advice for a day-long run but a lifelong pursuit.